The Little Things that P*** You Off

[DavidRoss]

For some reason this made me really want to watch Juno.

Great flick.  I could stomach seeing it again.

[Scarpia]

Great flick.  I could stomach seeing it again.

Michael Cera, who seems to play the same character every time, would become annoying.

[Brian]

Michael Cera, who seems to play the same character every time, would become annoying.

Actually, I was just watching it again and was really impressed with him. In places, his character is called upon to be confused and poker-faced, and he does it. In one memorable scene, in a chemistry lab, he has to put a smile on an awkward situation and his face is so priceless I was tempted to rewind and watch again. In other places, glimpses of genuine emotion are required, and he delivers again.

I think it is really easy to get caught up in the "Michael Cera plays the same role" cynicism and use it to sound like a cool person who looks down on his inflexibility. But the truth is, in Juno (as in Arrested Development) he isn't bringing the Michael Cera character into the film, the film is demanding a character of him. Paulie Bleeker helped define the Michael Cera aura - I think it's still his most famous role, although maybe that was Superbad - but it's not because it's part of an assembly line chain. It's because Paulie Bleeker is a strongly created character.

-

BTW, I approached Juno with terror that the teenage me had liked it for immature reasons.* I hadn't seen it in about 2 years and was really apprehensive about all the expectations. Turns out I still really like the film, just for different reasons, that's all.

*Not the sex stuff. The constant popcornesque one-liners.

[Scarpia]

I think it is really easy to get caught up in the "Michael Cera plays the same role" cynicism and use it to sound like a cool person who looks down on his inflexibility. But the truth is, in Juno (as in Arrested Development) he isn't bringing the Michael Cera character into the film, the film is demanding a character of him. Paulie Bleeker helped define the Michael Cera aura - I think it's still his most famous role, although maybe that was Superbad - but it's not because it's part of an assembly line chain. It's because Paulie Bleeker is a strongly created character.

So I you consider I'm about "trying to sound like a cool person?"  I'll do you the courtesy of not telling you what I think of you. 

Arrested development, Juno, I did not see Superbad, but I saw "Paper Heart."  Perhaps the worst film ever made, in my opinion, and he played the same character in every other role I've seen him in. 

[DavidRoss]

Michael Cera, who seems to play the same character every time, would become annoying.

Does he play the nebbish who knocks her up & you can't figure out what she was doing with him until you realize that he's as safe and unthreatening as a newborn puppy...or David Cassidy.

[Satzaroo]

I like the look of pregnant women at the beach.  After all, they're producing a new life.

Let them do it modestly. The same goes for breast feeding.

Another gripe: In Waikiki, the cops pay more attention to jaywalkers than to streetwalkers.

[Daverz]

Jeebus, just rename this the misogynist asshole thread and be done with it.

[Wendell_E]

Poorly designed forms.  Often, they don't give you nearly enough room for an address (street or e-mail).  Today, I was filling out a season subscription form, and one of the fields was "Type".  Type of what?  I put down "tall, dark, handsome", though I don't really care about height.  Looking at it again, it was right after "Phone" (not "Phone#", just "Phone") so maybe they meant type of phone, but I'm going with my first instinct.

[DavidW]

I'm with Marvin, scratched cds!  I've had several cds that have been so badly scratched that I just had to toss them. 

I have another one-- lingering chest congestion.

[Lethevich]

Smelly people. Just, why - it's such a perculiar lifestyle choice. I almost elected to catch the next bus because one guy was so bad.

[Brahmsian]

*Trying to volunteer for a position (playing cribbage with seniors).  Had to get a Criminal Record Search done, so I did, only to get a letter back saying they cannot complete my CRS since they have no fingerprints of mine on file.  So, now I have to pay another $55 to get my fingerprints taken, and the police said it may take up to 6 months to have the results in.

*Still no decision on the fate of the Phoenix Coyotes future, a joke of a franchise from day 1, while one of the richest men in Canada is ready and willing to bring the team back to Winnipeg, but that would mean poor old Gary Bettmann would be admitting defeat.

[ibanezmonster]

I'm with Marvin, scratched cds!  I've had several cds that have been so badly scratched that I just had to toss them. 

I have another one-- lingering chest congestion.

Speaking of CDs, this is the second time in a row I've gotten a pack of CDs that don't even play music, even though they're labeled "music."

[Wendell_E]

I have another one-- lingering chest congestion.

Ditto!

[Sid]

Don't know if you guys out there in Europe & the USA have heard of her, but Pauline Hanson really p***es me off. She is an Australian politician (& former fish n'chip shop owner, as she proudly declares) who headed the ultra-nationalist (or more like populist) One Nation Party. She only spent one term in parliament in the late 1990's. She's been trying to be re-elected in any election she feels might be a "goer" ever since. Not only Federally or in her native state of Queensland, but even in the recent March 2011 New South Wales state election. In that last one, she tried for our upper house, got a majority of primary votes, but lost on preferences (we have a preferential voting system in this country, so it's not "first past the post" like in other countries, and Hanson has been at a distinct disadvantage regarding that, no other major party will preference her). Her final comments on the result were that the electoral system needs to be changed (yeah - so fruitloops like her can get in, we already have got the Shooters Party and Christian Democrats, more like bigots, in the NSW upper house). I especially find it ironic that she declares that she's a maverick and a "Aussie battler" one of the people and not a politician, yet all she's been trying to do for the last 10 years is get back into parliament. She even went back to England to retire, her ancestral home, but then swiftly came back because it's full of Pakies  .

Basically her policies are based on populism rather than any profound convictions. Eg. she's anti-politicians, anti-Aboriginals, anti-immigrants, anti-environmentalists, anti-big business. Oh yeah, did I mention that she's basically against most things, and not "for" anything? I must admit that I remember her time in parliament as being of high entertainment value, she always said some rubbish that the media would be eager to pick up at the drop of a hat. But politicians should not be entertainers imo, they can be entertaining but their role is not that of a clown but of an elected representative of the people. Or maybe I've got it wrong, according to the thousands that actually voted for Pauline?...

[Gurn Blanston]

Don't know if you guys out there in Europe & the USA have heard of her, but Pauline Hanson really p***es me off. She is an Australian politician (& former fish n'chip shop owner, as she proudly declares) who headed the ultra-nationalist (or more like populist) One Nation Party. She only spent one term in parliament in the late 1990's. She's been trying to be re-elected in any election she feels might be a "goer" ever since. Not only Federally or in her native state of Queensland, but even in the recent March 2011 New South Wales state election. In that last one, she tried for our upper house, got a majority of primary votes, but lost on preferences (we have a preferential voting system in this country, so it's not "first past the post" like in other countries, and Hanson has been at a distinct disadvantage regarding that, no other major party will preference her). Her final comments on the result were that the electoral system needs to be changed (yeah - so fruitloops like her can get in, we already have got the Shooters Party and Christian Democrats, more like bigots, in the NSW upper house). I especially find it ironic that she declares that she's a maverick and a "Aussie battler" one of the people and not a politician, yet all she's been trying to do for the last 10 years is get back into parliament. She even went back to England to retire, her ancestral home, but then swiftly came back because it's full of Pakies  .

Basically her policies are based on populism rather than any profound convictions. Eg. she's anti-politicians, anti-Aboriginals, anti-immigrants, anti-environmentalists, anti-big business. Oh yeah, did I mention that she's basically against most things, and not "for" anything? I must admit that I remember her time in parliament as being of high entertainment value, she always said some rubbish that the media would be eager to pick up at the drop of a hat. But politicians should not be entertainers imo, they can be entertaining but their role is not that of a clown but of an elected representative of the people. Or maybe I've got it wrong, according to the thousands that actually voted for Pauline?...

Apparently she and Sarah Palin went to school together....  in any case, this sort of "politics' is becoming the norm, at least in our country. I guess my longtime escapist dream of moving to Australia to dodge the bullshit has come to naught.

[Conor71]

Don't know if you guys out there in Europe & the USA have heard of her, but Pauline Hanson really p***es me off. She is an Australian politician (& former fish n'chip shop owner, as she proudly declares) who headed the ultra-nationalist (or more like populist) One Nation Party. She only spent one term in parliament in the late 1990's. She's been trying to be re-elected in any election she feels might be a "goer" ever since. Not only Federally or in her native state of Queensland, but even in the recent March 2011 New South Wales state election. In that last one, she tried for our upper house, got a majority of primary votes, but lost on preferences (we have a preferential voting system in this country, so it's not "first past the post" like in other countries, and Hanson has been at a distinct disadvantage regarding that, no other major party will preference her). Her final comments on the result were that the electoral system needs to be changed (yeah - so fruitloops like her can get in, we already have got the Shooters Party and Christian Democrats, more like bigots, in the NSW upper house). I especially find it ironic that she declares that she's a maverick and a "Aussie battler" one of the people and not a politician, yet all she's been trying to do for the last 10 years is get back into parliament. She even went back to England to retire, her ancestral home, but then swiftly came back because it's full of Pakies  .

Basically her policies are based on populism rather than any profound convictions. Eg. she's anti-politicians, anti-Aboriginals, anti-immigrants, anti-environmentalists, anti-big business. Oh yeah, did I mention that she's basically against most things, and not "for" anything? I must admit that I remember her time in parliament as being of high entertainment value, she always said some rubbish that the media would be eager to pick up at the drop of a hat. But politicians should not be entertainers imo, they can be entertaining but their role is not that of a clown but of an elected representative of the people. Or maybe I've got it wrong, according to the thousands that actually voted for Pauline?...

Its pretty sad and scary that Pauline Hanson is as popular as she is in Australia!  - I definetely don't care for her either Sid! 

[Sid]

Apparently she and Sarah Palin went to school together....

Very funny, good one! 

...in any case, this sort of "politics' is becoming the norm, at least in our country. I guess my longtime escapist dream of moving to Australia to dodge the bullshit has come to naught.

Well we probably have less fruitloops in politics than say the USA (from what I can gather?). Most people here are pretty apathetic about politics generally, so maybe if someone comes into it with a bit of "charisma" then some people eagerly endorse them, probably without thinking much about the consequences. The media also like to jump on the bandwagon & report any rubbish that the person says, whatever the value. It becomes a matter of entertainment rather than politics.

Its pretty sad and scary that Pauline Hanson is as popular as she is in Australia!  - I definetely don't care for her either Sid! 

Agreed 110% my friend...

[Tapio Dmitriyevich]

Travelling by train and having someone sitting in front of me, WHO PERMANENTLY flips and folds pages of his newspaper. THIS is making me crazy. Also people eating expressively in the train.

Another no-no: People who are eating while they phone me.



But I wouldn't say those are little things. They are existential.

[Todd]

Relatively few small things piss me off, but one that does, though I don't consider it very small, is people bringing dogs with them to public places.  I'm talking places like malls, car dealerships, grocery stores (!), restaurants (!!), and even health care facilities (!!!).  People who have legitimate need for service dogs are one thing, but most people who do this most certainly don't need service animals, and are instead profoundly selfish.  Oh, I should throw in people who walk their dogs and don't clean up after them, particularly in places where dog excrement ought not to be.  I'm thinking of the local elementary school grounds as a prime example.  Such things are quite common where I live. 

[The Six]

At a mom 'n pop sandwich place. All I want is chips and a sandwich. I've got drinks at home so I don't need to get one. So I make my order, let's say it comes out to 6 bucks. Later I found out that I was completely ripped off. I saw a sign on the counter afterwards that showed a combo deal, sandwich, chips, and drink. All for 5 bucks.

So it turns out that if I had ordered a drink, I would have ended up paying less money for more food. That's a sure way to lose a customer there. Especially for an non-chain restaurant that's competing with bigger places. I just didn't happen to see the sign. The cashier/owner really has to mention the special in a case like that. Screw these places with horrible service.